Policy Guide - Service Credit

In 2002 DHRM announced a change to Policy 4.10, Annual Leave, to make annual leave accrual more consistent for employees with breaks in service regardless of their re-hire date. As employees have reviewed their state service in response to this change, questions have been raised about the relationship between service credit for annual leave purposes and service credit for retirement.

Adjustments to the annual leave anniversary date do not result in service being added to service credit for retirement. Similarly, service purchased for retirement credit is not reflected in other state service records, such as the annual leave anniversary date. The two totals are separate and independent, and various events can cause them to be
different.

State service is tracked by agencies and in PMIS using an anniversary date, which is normally tied to the individual’s employment date. The anniversary date determines the annual leave accrual rate, the maximum allowable carryover of annual leave to the next year, and the maximum annual leave payable when the employee leaves state service. For these purposes, state service includes all periods of full- and part-time salaried state service, including non-continuous,except periods of Leave Without Pay exceeding 14 days. It does not include hourly employment or service for any non-state entity.

The Virginia Retirement System permits employees to purchase certain kinds of prior service for credit toward retirement benefits. These include periods of previous state classified service that the employee “cashed out” upon separation from state employment; wage service with a state agency; and service at certain other government entities, including the military. The agreement to purchase is between the employee and VRS. The new service total is calculated by VRS and retained for retirement purposes only, and this total is not necessarily the same as that credited for annual leave accrual, carryover, and
payout.